U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,495 to Bird discloses flurbiprofen and salts thereof in admixture with an excipient encompassing fatty acid esters such as polyol esters of polyethylene glycol.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,964 to Ashton relates to soluble ester prodrugs of polyethylene glycol and various chemotherapeutic agents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,751 to David discloses polyethylene glycol type solubilizers for flurbiprofen U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,505 to Mizushima discloses esters of flurbiprofen which may be dissolved in a vegetable oil and emulsified.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,489,080 and 4,443,476 to Lomen discloses alkyl esters of flurbiprofen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,468 to Heckler discloses the systemic administration and topical application of flurbiprofen, salts thereof and esters thereof. The esters are (C1–C8) alkyl esters and are prescribed for the prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of herpes type II virus. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,473,584, 4,443,476 and 4,439,451 are related to U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,468.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,994 to Sloan discloses hydroxamic derivatives of flurbiprofen as prodrugs
U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,220 relates to compounds that are similar to those of U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,994. These compounds are aminoxy derivatives of, e.g., flurbiprofen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,283 to Herr et al discloses lower alkyl esters of flurbiprofen. The esters are lower alkyl esters.
Canadian Patent CA 1,148,165 and German Patent DE 3,811,118 disclose esters of flurbiprofen.
The anti-inflammatory agent, flurbiprofen, produces local irritation when applied for treatment of inflammation. Various techniques have been used to lower the dosage of flurbiprofen to the patient, such as techniques for rapid release of flurbiprofen into the body. Nevertheless, there exists a need in the art for compositions that achieve the desired effects of flurbiprofen without the concomittant local irritation. This is particularly true in the application of the flurbiprofen anti-inflammatory agent to the eye.